World Bank: Women face widespread inequality at work (Roundup)

Mar 17, 2010, 19:11 GMT

Washington - Women face a litany of government-imposed restrictions across the globe that limit their ability to work or start a business, the World Bank said Wednesday in its first annual report on laws and regulations over gender equality.

The World Bank found that just 20 of 128 economies surveyed have equal working rights for men and women, and warned that limiting work for half the population was hampering growth in many developing countries.

'Women's economic empowerment is not only the right thing to do. It's the smart thing to do from an economic perspective,' Zoellick said at the report's unveiling, noting that worldwide women were also more likely to lose their jobs during the recent global recession.

The vast majority of the 20 countries with equal work rights were industrial nations. None were in Eastern Europe, South Asia or the Middle East. Just one country, Botswana, scored top marks in Africa.

Across the globe, just one third of businesses were owned or co- owned by women. The wage gap between working men and women averaged 17 per cent in 2008.

The restrictions on women getting jobs range from barring access to specific industries, to owning a company or - as in the Democratic Republic of Congo - requiring a husband's approval before signing a work contract.

The World Bank also found a number of laws in place ostensibly to protect women, such as preventing them from working at night or in dangerous fields such as mining. The report argued this, too, stopped women from contributing to economic growth as they would choose.

Zainab Salbi, founder of Women for Women International, a civil rights group involved with the report, argued the key challenge was shifting cultural norms and convincing governments that releasing the shackles on women makes economic sense.

'The issue is mindset,' she told the German Press Agency dpa. 'Having these protective laws is patronizing in my opinion.'